Chapter 4
Their eyes were on him as he released the five-point harness in his chair and drifted upwards.
All three of the men sharing the orbital shuttle with him were twice his age or more, and there had been an air of expectation about them as the shuttle had lifted off from the New Prejat starport terminal. Unlike the businessmen of earlier in the day, these three men would not be impressed solely by tales of life at the Academy, or spending a few months onboard the Space Navy’s warships. They would want proof he was at least able to live in space.
That was why he waited until the shuttle had settled into its medium orbit, bound for the sprawling orbital complex that housed the O’Leary Ship Dealer yards. There would be ten minutes of zero gravity. Small shuttles like this didn’t waste power on artificial gravity. It was with a simple push that he headed down the short passage and stopped with a grasp on a small handhold for just that purpose. It took little effort to enter the ‘fresher, but for an inexperienced person, the tricks of zero gravity would have hampered someone who had not had experience maneuvering. When Garret returned four minutes later, the looks of expectation were gone and he received several nods of their head.
Yes, Garret knew how to get around in zero gravity.
The porthole he sat near didn’t give a view of the station until they were approaching the landing bay, but Garret didn’t need a view of the monstrosity that was the Peladon Gateway Station. PGS had been started the first year Peladon had been colonized. In those early days of what would become the Elacrar Republic, six colony ships had settled into orbit over four colony worlds.
Peladon had been the most earth-like with only the most basics of terraforming necessary. The Europa had settled onto the most fertile of the four continental masses, and disgorged its population of mostly American and European exiles. One of the most prominent families amongst those early colonists had been the Lars family, who had funded huge amounts of farming and processing equipment, supplies, and food stocks.
The second ship, the Sibirsk had been full of Eastern European, Ukrainian, Russian, and the few Arabic colonists that had left Earth. In those early days, it had been much more efficient to harvest the Peladon system’s rich asteroid fields for ore. Small orbital miners, funded by the Vostok family would mine nickel, iron, gold, and numerous other metals from the asteroids and take them back to the Sibirsk for refining and transport back down to the planet. Within two decades, the Sibirsk had been transformed into the Peladon Gateway Station. Over the centuries, the core station had been built onto so that while it still formed the core of the station, it was now dwarfed by the additions. It was over two miles high, four miles across, and three miles in depth. Inside were miles and miles of corridors, small bays for orbital shuttles, larger bays for freighters, and of course the O’Leary Ship Yard, the largest manufacturer and re-seller of civilian space vessels.
O’Leary also had a contract with the military to provide a very limited line of transport and cargo ships, but most of those vessels were not available for sale.
The shuttle’s pilot was a good one. They settled into the O’Leary docking bay without even a single bump. This section of the station appeared to have a light gravity, about one-half standard, and the shuttle shook slightly as a boarding tube was extended over the egress hatch. They were the only customers on this flight, and his three captains stood behind Garret in single file while they waited for the steward to open the hatch. Garret nodded at him as he led the three middle-aged men out of the hatch.
Mikael Luxon was the first to follow. He was in his late forties, and the most senior of the captains. Well over six feet tall with wide shoulders, he was an imposing man who spoke in a gruff voice. His face had the seasoned look of a deep-spacer, and he always spoke in clipped tones, despite the gruffness of his voice. To Garret, Mikael always looked like he was scowling.
Pierre Eickleberg was behind Mikael, a short, weed-thin man in his late thirties. He didn’t look like an experienced freighter captain, rather more like a dancer. He moved with a quiet grace, and spoke in soft tones all the time. His mouse brown hair and plain brown eyes added to his unremarkable appearance by making him more unremarkable. Little escaped his attention though, and he was meticulous about everything he did.
Garret sensed that the other two captains were intimidated by the shortest of their number. Pierre was shorter than Garret even, in an age and on a planet where the average height was six foot. The shorter freight captain barely reached five-six, but that didn’t prevent him from intimidating others. Perhaps it was the way he noticed everything, and looked like he was cataloguing it for later use, or maybe the way he flew his ships, taut, precise, always on time, and always by the book.
The last of the Captains was in his early forties, and was of exactly average height, and above-average weight. He had the biggest stomach Garret had ever seen, mostly because he was lazy about exercise. When it came to his ship, or his cargo, Liet Nouveau was anything but lazy. Five years ago, his ship had been chased by a pirate cruiser for four days before being boarded, and the crew reports had indicated it was the Captain who had led the fight against them, killing four with nothing but a needle gun and a machete. He’d been gutted in that fight by a quick Pirate with a long knife, but Liet had finished leading his crew in repelling the boarders, put the pirate ship under tow, and commanded his ship back to the nearest port.
After it docked, he’d passed out with guts hanging out of his ample belly. He’d spent the entire trip holding them in without letting his corpsman know he’d been so seriously wounded. He’d lost nearly a third of his intestines in the surgery to save his life, and he lost forty pounds in the hospital, but he’d lived.
And gained back fifty pounds once discharged from the hospital.
“Welcome, I am Kittie Parks-O’Leary.” A tall, brown-haired woman said as we left the shuttle’s docking bay and entered the station. She was wearing a white jumpsuit that showed off her figure to perfection, and her smile never faltered. Kittie knew who her primary customer was, because after sweeping a quick glance over the entire group, her gaze settled on Garret.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” Garret said with a nod towards her. There was no custom of shaking hands here in the spaceport. “These are my captains.”
Garret introduced the three men to her and they exchanged polite nods. As soon as the introductions were done, she stepped to the side and motioned further down the passageway with one hand. “If you care to follow me, I have arranged to have a bay prepared with the ships you referenced in your message.
“Gladly.” Garret agreed, heading off in the direction she indicated. As they walked, she reviewed each of the ships he had requested to see today, and the three captains followed in a group behind them, listening to every word in silence. The choices of ship types had been his, and Marjaan’s, but the specific ship chosen would depend on the men behind him. They would have to captain the ships, and it was only proper they have a voice in their selection.
“In this bay we have two models of Hercules-class heavy freighters.” Kittie said with a broad smile as she opened the airlock into the docking bay. Garret led the way inside, stopping just a few paces into the bay. Even with just two of the ships here, the large bay was crowded. Mikael Luxon stepped forward, his hands on his waist as he whistled with appreciation at the two ships before them. Garret admitted to himself that sometimes a man’s tastes were just odd.
“The Alexandra is nearly fifteen standard years old, and has logged over fifty-thousand light years.” She said, pointing to the first of the two ships. “We acquired her recently from the Macktel Shipping Consortium. She’s been renovated with rebuilt engines, reactor cores, and her computer systems were fully wiped before being restored. Her berthing and passenger compartments were refurbished, and her galley was upgraded with the newest in cooking equipment.”
“Were her engines or other systems upgraded?” Luxon asked in a steady tone. He would have to command whatever ship was chosen from these two, and it was only proper for him to do the questioning.
“No.” Kittie’s answer was succinct. Garret looked at both ships and felt a great sense of relief that neither of these ships would be his to command. Their forward section was triangular. It would hold the bridge deck, sensors, and operational controls as well as the officer’s mess and berthing. Behind it was a two hundred-foot flattened-square type hull section that would hold the crew berthing and mess deck, passenger areas, recreation area, reactors and so forth. It ended with four great oval protrusions that were the main thrusters. They were set out far enough that when the rectangular heavy-cargo pods were attached to the four-hundred foot long spire arcing out of the back of the freighter, the blast from the ion engines would not damage the pods. That spire held power and gravitic attachments that would make the individual cargo pods extensions of the ship. Each standard pod would be eighty feet wide, sixty feet high, and forty feet across.
The cargo spire also held wave-fold guides that would make the pods part of the ship’s jump-field for faster-than-light travel.
“I see no weapons.” Luxon asked next.
“Few of our ships are sold with weapons in place.” Kittie said with a slight sniff. Garret knew that, but none of these captains had really ever dealt with a firm as expensive as this one. Even their reconditioned ships sold for near-new prices, and were worth every penny. “However, both of these ships have reactors and wiring capable of handling up to category-five beam systems and of course projectile-based point defenses. There are twelve emplacements for beam weapons on both of them, and another eight emplacements for the projectile-based weapons. They can be purchased as extras and installed prior to delivery.”
“What about the other one?” Luxon asked and Kittie smiled.
“Now that’s a real treat.” She stated in a sales tone. Garret sensed she was about to lay it on thick, but when she continued, he couldn’t help his jaw dropping. “That’s the Merlinda.”
“Impossible.” Luxon snorted. “The Merlinda was sold for scrap by Morganson’s children after he died. Word was they hated him for leaving them alone so much of the time with only his mistress for company.”
The stories of the adventures of Captain Morganson and the Merlinda were near legendary. Morganson had taken his ship through enemy-occupied territory in the first decade of the war with the Sol Empire, time and again managing to evade enemy patrols while flying the slowest, least maneuverable, and barely armed freighter. The Hercules class were never meant to evade Nav Point Pirates, much less military cruisers, but Morganson had evaded both more times than not with the Merlinda.
“That is what everyone thought, but we ran across her two years ago.” Kittie stated with a knowing smile. “She’s just finished being retrofitted. Old man Morganson apparently had a few tricks up his sleeve that he never told anyone about. His engines weren’t standard Type III Ion Heavy Thrusters. They were boosted with an interesting configuration our techs have never seen before, but still works on even the modern designs. Once we figured out how they worked, we left them in place and started figuring out how to add them to our own designs.
“How do they work?” Garret asked, speaking up for the first time.
“They add to the engine mix ration and boost thrust.” Kittie explained vaguely. “It gives you a ten-second engine boost of five-hundred percent power. You can do that about three times in an hour and not overstress the engines. More than that, she shakes apart, but that’s all it takes to gain enough thrust to get you out of harms way. We’ve upgraded her to Type IX Ion Heavy Thrusters, with the boosters still in place. Plus she’s got a Markolb Systems Type 43 central computer with all the latest navigation upgrades. Her wave-fold generator is good for six point five light years instead of five-three like most for this class. We’ve also restored, not refurbished all of her interior furnishings. Plus, gents, we can prove this is the Merlinda for your insurance and your customers.”
“How much?” Garret asked without having to even voice a question to Luxon. The man’s muscles were quivering and he gave Garret a look of pure pleading.
“Well, you might expect a ship with this one’s history is going to go for a little more.” Kittie was in full sales mode now. “We’re proud to offer you the Alexandra for the cut-rate deal of sixty-four million, eight hundred thousand, not including extras, taxes, and docking fees. The Merlinda, you have to understand, has more of a history and its value is more. She’ll be yours for one hundred million plus taxes and fees.”
“Eighty-six million, we pay taxes and you pay all docking and other fees.” Garret countered and he raised an eyebrow as she started to open her mouth. “Of course we’ll order a full complement of type-five laser/plasma combination turrets, as well as a full complement of Dart Five anti-fighter/missile point defense turrets.”
“That’s military-grade hardware.” She said with a frown. “Very expensive, but of course your file says your company is cleared for class-five military systems. That’s an additional four point six million.”
“Two point nine, and we make sure everyone in the business knows we got her here.” Garret countered and he smiled. “We’ll even sing the praises of your new boosters.”
“Make it ninety-even, you pay taxes, and you’ve got a deal for everything.” She said while tapping some figures out onto a data pad she produced from a pocket of her jump suit. When she was done, she held it out to Garret. He looked at Luxon who was giving him a dreamy expression.
“Done.” He said as he put his thumb on the verification pad. A slight tingle announced it was sampling his DNA to verify the purchase. If he’d been anything but an MX model, Garret’s DNA wouldn’t have been admissible as evidence for sale, but he had green eyes, and other minor variations from other clones, making his DNA unique.
Besides, more advanced scanners would find the microfilial differences even amongst clone DNA. They’d just have had to go to an office with a more powerful DNA scanner. Ten seconds after he put his thumb to the pad, it beeped the transfer of the funds, and Kittie grinned at Garret.
“Congratulations, Mr. Lars, the Merlinda is yours.” Kittie said with a smile.
“Captain, if you want to inspect your ship, we’ll meet you at the shuttle dock in three hours.” Garret told Luxon, who was now staring at the ship he would command.
“Thanks, son.” The older captain said with a voice that cracked. He was almost in a dream-like state as he headed for the Heavy Freighter.
“If you gentlemen are ready, we’ve got the medium freighters in the next two bays.” Kitte said as a technician began to escort Captain Luxon to his ‘new’ ship. Garret tried to put away the thought that he’d just paid ninety million for a ship that was at least fifty years old, but he couldn’t. He wondered if that would cost him when the bank found out about the purchase.
The next two went a little smoother as they looked at six medium freighters. Pierre Eickleberg chose a boxy Anka-class freighter. It resembled little more than a series of boxes stuck together by circular tubes, with an oval bridge on one end and a rectangular set of five engines on the other. It held almost forty percent of the cargo the Merlinda could carry. It had a decent acceleration curve and enough turrets to house a fairly comprehensive point-defense system. Another benefit was that the forward sections held enough staterooms for fifty passengers. All in all, the ship was a perfect fit for the company’s needs, and Pierre seemed delighted to have the Elaina as his ship.
The same bay that held the Elaina also held a much sleeker medium freighter that Liet Nouveau indicated fit him perfectly. Like the Elaina, the Cynthia Rose was less than two years old, but from a model design first produced about eight years ago. That was where the resemblances ended between the two ships. Cynthia Rose was of a classic ‘flying wing’ design with a forward hull that was v-shaped and a tail end that was inverted. From the thin line where the upper and lower hulls met along that ‘v’, her hull lifted in a gentle thirty-degree arc that went in each direction for forty feet, leaving the ship just over eighty feet in height. Her cargo hold could carry only thirty percent of the space of the Merlinda, but she had sixty cabins for passengers, twenty of them being first-class cabins. She also held emplacements for slightly heavier weapons than either of the other freighters, giving her a greater edge of safety in shipping lanes further away from regular patrols.
She was also twenty-percent faster than either of the other freighters with her sub-light engines.
“You ready for your ship?” Kittie asked Garret as they left Liet to look over his new ship in the company of an O’Leary engineer. He nodded absent-mindedly, hoping these ships were the good decisions they appeared to be right now. These two ships were cheaper than the Merlinda, but he’d just spent nearly two hundred million credits purchasing them.
They had to take a mag-lev shuttle to the next bay, and go through a security checkpoint manned by a sergeant in the black and red coveralls of the Republic Navy Security Services. Garret held in a sigh when his DNA scan verified his security clearance was still active, and followed Kittie into the secure portion of the facility.
“We are really happy that you’re looking at buying this ship.” Kittie said as they waited for an airlock to cycle on the other side of a long passageway. “This ship completed her trial runs nearly eight months ago, and was slated for commissioning when they government cut the budget and slashed the entire class.”
“You still got your basic payment for it though.” Garret pointed out, letting her know he wouldn’t be buying any stories about them losing money on the project. She shrugged with a grimace.
“For this one, but profit from a new ship design comes from the production of subsequent ships.” She explained. “The first ship, we break even on the production costs for that ship, and make back a percentage of the research and development costs. It takes at least two more ships for us to see a profit, and at least one more to reach the break-even point. That’s why our ship production contracts state that if a design-line is cancelled before sale and delivery of the second vessel, the prototype returns to our custody. That way, if we can sell it, we will usually at least break even.”
“Pity.” Garret said with a slight smile. At the price they were quoting in the advertisement, this ship would yield them at least some profit.
“Field Marshal Gunaret commissioned the Adamant-class personally.” Kittie explained as the airlock opened and they entered the observation bay. Garret let his breath out in a long, gentle exhalation as he took in the beauty of the ship on the other side of the Plaz windows. The Adamant hung in the zero-gravity well of a military-standard domed docking ring. Kittie wasn’t done explaining about the ship, and while she talked, he went to the window and stared at the ship she was describing. “The old-earth designers called this a ‘squashed cigar’ hull-type, but I think those words leave out the beauty of the design. She has eight decks below the center-line, and nine above with the bridge in the forward section on the centerline itself. Originally the lower decks were engineering, troop berthing, drop ship docking, and cargo space. Everything but the engineering spaces has been converted into cargo space, and with a hull eight hundred and fifty-four feet long, or as the techies like to point out, two hundred and sixty point three meters, that gives you nearly as much cargo room as both the medium freighters you just purchased. The Centerline Deck is composed mostly of operations compartments necessary for flying the ship, including two machine shops that actually extend into the deck just below the centerline. The 01 and 02 decks just above the Centerline consist of crew recreation areas, mess decks, and the officer’s staterooms. The 03 Deck is the main ingress/egress stations for passengers as well as passenger recreation facilities including two restaurants for Class B passengers, four lounges, and various entertainment rooms accessible to all passengers. The 04 Deck holds fifty cabins each capable of containing six Class C passengers, two mess galleys for Class C passengers, and minor entertainment centers. The 05 Deck holds thirty Class B passenger quarters, each capable of holding up to four passengers in relative luxury, along with more extensive recreation facilities including a theater. The 06 Deck holds twenty Class A luxury passenger cabins, two complete spas, two lounges and a full entertainment section compliant with passenger industry standards for Class A passengers. The 07 and 08 decks are crew areas for stewards assigned to the 06 Deck, as well as housing for the primary weapons batteries. The 09 Deck is an observation lounge for Class A passengers.”
“Tell me more about her weapons systems.” Garret asked as he turned away from looking at the ship. She hadn’t mentioned its silverish reflective hull that shone brightly in the dock lights. She would gleam in orbit above a planet, visible to the naked eye.
“She was designed for planetary bombardment and to act as the flagship for a planetary assault battle group.” Kittie said with a smile that reminded Garret of a shark more than anything. “Forty laser and projectile-based defense cannons are recessed in her hull, a nine-inch mass driver runs through the Centerline deck and fires from the center forward deck right below the bridge. She also has four Class Seven capitol ship lasers, four torpedo tubes, and six anti-fighter missile batteries. Her planetary assault weapons were removed of course, and we resisted removing the primary and secondary weapon systems out of the hope that a military-qualified buyer would come along. Frankly, if you don’t purchase her, those will be removed along with her military-grade sensor packages, electronic warfare suite, and encrypted communications systems. You’re cleared by the military to own all of those things, although the purchase contract will explicitly state you must command this ship.”
“What is the crew requirement?” Garret asked. That had not been in the advertisement either.
“As she’s currently outfitted, you’ll need a crew of one hundred and fifty to crew her adequately.” Kittie answered as her smile faltered slightly. “Forty-three engineers, thirty-two operations and flight technicians, twenty-five cargo handlers, forty-two stewards for passenger care and eight officers. There are often traveling entertainers that you can hire for passenger entertainment, most of them will often travel for a small stipend, free food, and free lodging. I might recommend expecting another thirty or so of them, plus masseuses and similar types.”
“What about her hangar bays?” Garret asked as he went over figures in his head. They’d have to purchase enough clone contracts for at least two-thirds of the crew in order to make the ship financially viable.
“Her port side hangar bay was sealed shut to create a recreation area on the 03 level and quarters as well as supply areas on the 04 deck.” Kittie answered. “The starboard side is still operational. It runs the length of the ship for four hundred feet and could originally hold a squadron of fighters as well as six medium-sized troop shuttles. We’ve modified it a bit and while it still will hold berths for six fighters, they can also fit small cargo handlers now, as well as four large transport shuttles, three medium-sized passenger shuttles and four small ship-to-shore boats.”
“Let’s take a look inside.” Garret suggested and she nodded, leading him to the boarding tube in the next room. As soon as they entered the airlock of the ship, Garret knew there would be no choosing another ship for him. The entry area was large, with vaulted ceilings overhead that were two decks high, and expensive carpeting underneath. Still, the internal passageways held their original military lines, and he felt comfortable with that. Kittie took some time pointing out all the little details like the added painting and wallpaper on the interior that hid the metal military bulkheads underneath.
As she led him to show an example of the crew and passenger berthing spaces, he felt a gentle humming begin just underneath his right ear, and almost worried that his implants were malfunctioning, but something else nagged at his memory as if he should recognize what the humming meant. While Kittie led him through a well-hidden crew access point and into the bowels of the engineering spaces, he noticed that everything was very clean, and very operational. It wouldn’t take long to get a crew trained and the ship fully operational.
“Shall we see the bridge now?” Kittie asked after they’d traveled out of the engineering spaces and taken a brief glance at the recreational area that had been the port side hangar bay. It held a real swimming pool (the water kept in place by a team of low-level force fields and reinforced gravitational plates), two complete gyms, and a good-sized holo-theater.
“Sure.” Garret said as the humming behind his ear reached a high pitch and he staggered. The O’Leary sales rep didn’t notice him stagger, and he hurried to catch up with her as his memory told him what the humming was just in time. The data that appeared in his head didn’t surprise him, thanks to the last-second remembering of something learned from the learning strips provided to him by his former classmates.
“This ship is equipped with a Series Nine Artificial Intelligence.” He stated more than asked Kittie, who stopped and turned to look at him with a frown and a sigh.
“Yes.” She said softly. “I was hoping… well… let’s just say it’s been one of the hurdles we’ve faced in selling the ship. The Series Nine are… peculiar at best and this ship’s… well it’s not happy at being in a ship that isn’t a warship anymore. We’ve been researching how to switch it out with a regular computer core, but the ship’s operations are too extensive and a non-AI computer would require the crew to be almost doubled.”
“It’s alright.” Garret said as he strode forward taking the lead. He had a map of the ship in his head now and could find the bridge without a problem. The nearest internal lift was just down the corridor and towards the interior of the ship. All the lifts ran along the central axis, up and down decks at various points as if spokes on a central axis, and with Kittie following in his wake, they were entering the bridge within five minutes.
“The lifts are supposed to be non-operational right now.” Kittie murmured once during the trip and Garret shrugged noncommittally. She’d probably already guessed he was now in communication with the ship’s AI computer. Until a link was completed, he couldn’t ‘hear’ the ship and the ship couldn’t ‘hear’ him, but they could still transmit and receive data. Few ships in the fleet ever had an AI computer, and those that did were usually flagships. Not many officers were ever given the implants necessary to deal directly with a ship’s AI computer, but Garret had been headed for a command track career, like Billy, and they’d both received the implants at the beginning of their second year at the Academy. Technically, Garret’s should have been removed when he left military service, but they’d been in such a hurry to dump him off in Tremere’s pleasure house that they hadn’t had time to remove any of his implants. They’d just ordered him to turn them off, and he had, until the ship sensed him and turned them back on for him.
His first view of the Adamant’s bridge wasn’t quite awe-inspiring. As the flagship of a planetary assault group, it should have been three times the size it was now with display tables for monitoring of ground assaults as well as ship operations. He didn’t need the saleslady to know most of the command and control stations were removed and bulkheads shifted around to make room for two forward observation lounges. One was for ‘A’ class passengers, and one for ‘B’ class. Both bulkheads abutting the bridge were at least reinforced, and the only control stations left were those that dealt most directly with the operation of the ship.
The bridge itself was forty feet wide and fifty feet deep, not quite a square. Along the starboard bulkheads were six stations for engineering, life support, and monitoring of all the ship’s passenger and cargo support operations. The port side held six stations including some for internal and external communications, two sensor stations for monitoring surrounding space, a ‘flight operations’ console for the single remaining hangar bay, and a single tactical console for handling the ship’s weapons systems. That made Garret frown. There should be at least four stations during actual combat. Near the bridge windows sat the piloting and navigation stations. The Captain’s chair, almost a throne in this ship, with two computer stations, one on each side of the chair, was eight feet behind the piloting station and nearly in the center of the room. Garret didn’t like the two ‘observer’ chairs located one on either side.
“As you can see, the bridge is state-of-the-art and greatly automated thanks to the…” Kittie started to say as Garret looked around the bridge, but he held his hand up to stop her from continuing. Instead he sat down in the command chair, sighing as the comfortable chair all but molded itself to fit his body. The computer panel to his right chirped and a small square opened on it to reveal the lead of a direct-link jack. Kittie gasped softly from behind him as he reached out, took the jack and plugged it into the access port behind his right ear. As the link activated, and information began to flow into as well as out of him, he closed his eyes and tried to absorb everything that was being sent to him.
“You lied.” He said aloud to Kittie. “You’ve actually sold Adamant twice and she was returned because the Captains couldn’t control her.”
“I… um… how… is the ship talking to you?” Kittie stuttered with wide eyes. Garret opened his eyes just enough to see her expression before closing them again.
“Two hundred million.” Garret said softly. “Final and only offer from me. I’m not bound by the non-disclosure agreements you settled with the other two purchasers.”
“If that’s a final offer, than you have to accept the ship with a no-return policy.” Kittie responded sharply. Her voice was on-edge.
“There won’t be any problems like those with the last purchasers.” Garret said as the data transfer completed and he was in-sync with the ship and its computer. He removed the link and opened his eyes slowly. Yes, everything was still there, and he could both send and receive through his military implants. That was the difference between him and the other potential captains. Their transmit implants had been removed as per military protocol and they could not establish full links with the computer. Without a full link, the computer never trusted them, and so did not follow their commands. Neither man had even thought to use the cable link to at least establish the basic level of trust necessary when dealing with an AI computer.
“So it’s agreed?” Kittie asked, sticking out the contract with the special addendums added on the data pad. He nodded, reviewed them and then approved the purchase. He felt a sense of approval from the computer.
“It’s agreed with the following items before I accept the ship from the dock.” Garret said quickly. He was almost running late for the shuttle back down to the planet, and dinner with his new captains, as well as a meeting he did not relish. “In addition to the standard laser holo of my company seal on the hull, I want you to reestablish the software and hardware links for the ship’s computer to the ship’s public address program. I also want this bridge expanded with enough room for four more consoles. I’ll have my crew program the consoles myself, but I want the back half of the bridge expanded even if it takes up space from the lounges.”
“When do you want the ship delivered?” She asked with a frown.
“Two weeks, same as the other three.” Garret answered sternly.
“That…for two hundred million…the remodel on the bridge can’t be done.” Kittie responded.
“How about I buy all my shuttle transport fleet and all my cargo handler pods from O’Leary, new stock, not used?” Garret offered and saw her eyes brighten.
“How many?” She asked and he rattled off numbers. All the ships he’d bought today had docking bays, even if just big enough for cargo pods, and he filled each one up to almost full capacity. It was always good to leave a little extra room for the unexpected in a hangar bay. Plus, there would be a need for a few extra shuttles here on Peladon to do surface-to-station transport since their garage depot and warehouses would be here on the station. All told he spent another forty-eight million, including purchasing a small, luxurious short-range skiff as his ‘captain’s yacht for Adamant. He’d almost refused the purchase but he felt a surge from the ship that told him she expected him to have a nice yacht that would impress anyone flying with him. It seemed the ship thought any ship being stored in her hangar bay was part of her, and had to be of high enough quality to impress people. He couldn’t quite hear words from her yet, her speech subroutines had been disabled after the incident with her last captain, but he could get a ‘sense’ of what she was thinking and wanting.
“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Lars.” Kittie said with a sad smile as she showed him back to the launch port where their shuttle was waiting. The other captains were waiting for him, as was the shuttle but he turned to face the O’Leary rep again.
“I spent over four hundred million here today.” Garret told her sharply. “I know you expected more for the Adamant, and if you’d been as honest as your reputation claimed, you’d have gotten more. Still, I don’t think either one of us really have anything to complain about with this deal.”
“True.” She responded with a nod of her head. “See you in two weeks when your ships are ready, sir.”
“In two weeks.” He responded and turned back to meet his captains.
The shuttle ride back down to the planet was far different from the shuttle ride up to the station. All three of his captains were practically talking over each other as they discussed their new ships, and Garret smiled as he listened to their banter over who would make the most money from his hauls. They all knew that Mikael Luxon would hall the most cargo, and therefore bring in the most revenue per haul, but his ship was slower than the others, and both Pierre and Liet felt they could make quicker runs with their smaller ships, bringing in enough cash flow to offset the larger cargos of the bigger Merlinda.
“What about you, Garret?” Luxon asked as the shuttle prepared for its landing at the New Prejat spaceport. “Did you select the Adamant?”
“Yes, and she’s a beaut.” Garret said with a small smile. Even here he could feel the presence of the ship in the back of his mind. At this distance his internal transmitter was just barely in range, but the ship was keeping power to its communications systems so that it could track its new owner. It was almost possessive of him.
“I heard she had a nasty AI.” Liet said stolidly and Garret nodded.
“She’s… possessive when she finds a captain she likes.” Garret admitted and the three men laughed at his words.
“You couldn’t saddle me with those damn implants of yours.” Pierre said with a shake of his head. Garret wondered how the man knew about his implants and his expression must have shown his curiosity.
“Marjaan told us about those when we thought you wouldn’t be able to claim the ship.” Pierre explained, leading Garret to wonder how she had known.
“That woman knows everyone’s secrets.” Luxon gave a partial answer for Garret with a shake of his head. “I swear she knew every time I visited a brothel off-planet before I even returned from a haul when I worked for her husband.
“She knew my third wife was pregnant before my wife even knew.” Liet added. “The doctor himself must have called her before he called my wife.”
“I didn’t know you were married.” Garret said with a frown.
“I have had five wives in my years.” Liet said with a shrug. “They all decide they do not like waiting for me to come back from a long haul.”
“I see.” Garret said with a nod of his head.
“It is hard to keep a relationship together when you are gone four weeks out of five.” Pierre said with a stoic shrug as the shuttle touched down on the pad. “I have had three wives and now I prefer to keep to the brothels. It is cheaper than the alimony.”
“Agreed.” Mikael said with a short guffaw. The same steward as their earlier flight opened the hatch and the four men disembarked. A hover limo was waiting for them just off the pad, and they boarded it with Garret in the lead. He now understood better why none of them thought it strange that they were having dinner in a pleasure house. When they were aboard, the limo took off without being given any instructions, and Garret settled back into his seat. Mikael was on his right, and the other two captains sat on the bench across from him.
“We hear you were a special model of the 10 series.” Mikael said as the limo built up speed and headed towards the sector of town that housed the Tremere-owned pleasure house Garret had lived in for the past year and a half. “Marjaan tells us that is why you have green eyes, and are considered a son of the Lars House.”
“You’ve heard correctly.” Garret said with only a little bit of discomfort at the direct question. “I was raised as part of the household from around age seven. At age ten, I saved the life of my brother, their True Born son. I was put with them as part of a program to raise clones that could take the place of True Born officers. We entered the Academy together and I was there until the war ended.”
“I heard you saw combat with the fleet.” Liet said with a tilt of his head.
“I did, both summer breaks.” Garret admitted.
“Were you not awarded the Bronze Cluster of Bravery?” Pierre asked.
“I was.” Garret said with a nod of his head. All three let out a sigh at that.
“When we worked for Marjaan’s husband, may the Gods look over his soul, we were sent on a supply run to Corvalis.” Mikael began slowly and a shudder worked its way up Garret’s spine.
“It was a mess.” Liet added with a sad shake of his head. “We saw the ruins of the fleet that had made it back there after the retreat.”
“There were many rumors going around.” Pierre said with a frown as the limo began its descent towards the pleasure house. “Chief among them, and heard most was that during the big battle, the Admiral began to order the retreat that saved the lives of over a million Republic troops, but his flagship was hit and he was injured. It was said a young officer from the Academy took over the retreat for two hours until the Admiral could resume his post. They said the Academy officer was a young man who looked much like a 10 series clone, but who had green eyes so you knew he was not a clone.”
“I wonder how that rumor got started?” Garret asked rhetorically as all three men laughed.
“So it was you.” Mikael said with certainty and Garret nodded while trying not to blush. “Then we will be happy to fly the skies under your flag, son of House Lars.”
“Thank you.” Garret said without letting out the sigh of relief he was feeling. As the limo came to a stop, they climbed outside to find Marjaan waiting for them. She was wearing a long blue skirt, green blouse, blue jacket, and had a black scarf that partially covered her face. She nodded at them and stepped aside so they could go in the main entrance. Garret led the way, and suppressed a smile at the familiar figure of Louann at the post of the ‘Greeter’ for the evening. She was an 03 series clone model with long dark hair and an oval face.
“Greetings, sirs and Madame.” Louann said in a silky voice. “How may the house serve you today?”
“We are the party from BGL Shipping and Transport.” Garret said with a smile as he realized she either didn’t recognize him without his contacts in, or was pretending not to recognize him. Either way, he preferred it that way.
“Oh yes, we have been expecting you.” She said with a wider smile and a slight bow of her head. She pressed a button on the desk in front of her and the side door opened a moment later. For a second he thought it was Deci coming through the door, but he realized it was another 09 model, one he hadn’t known before, so it must be the replacement for his friend, Deci.
“If the honored True Borns will follow me?” The 09 model said with a bow of his head and they followed him into the pleasure house. Garret could have led the way himself, and had in fact led the way for other private properties when this very house had held his contract, but now he was a guest, and on the receiving end of the house’s services. For some reason it made him feel dirty.
They were led to a small private dining room that was already set with wine, water, and fresh salad plates for each of them. They began eating with a minimum of fuss, and as they ate they were served by the 09 model who had never introduced himself, and by Kap, a 07 series, which had primarily been designed as pure infantry, but had several minor batches produced as pleasure models for people that liked the broad shouldered, heavily muscled, dark-haired type of clone.
The food was good, as always, and the conversation flowed easily as the five of them discussed exactly how BGL S&T would work. Marjaan already had the specs on the various ships they had selected, and even expressed her approval of the selections. Somehow she’d already come up with a regimen of interviews for the next week during which they would select the senior officers for their ships, their assistants, and senior crewmen. The rest would be selected by their officers, or Marjaan through the government’s clone procurement system. Then they’d have a week of preparation, plus the hiring of ground mechanics, dock loaders, and the like, and then another week of training flights around the system before the first real hauls were begun.
“Are you sure this is not too quick?” Garret asked with a frown. No military ship would go from a totally new crew to an actual mission within such a short time frame!
“This is not the military.” Marjaan said in a heavy accent, drawling out her vowels. “We are merchants and must make money or we do not have a job next month. Payments on your loan are due every ten weeks and because of that big ship you buy, we must bring in eight million each ten weeks to pay loans, leases on office, your apartment, the space dock we will be using, and of course salaries and fuel as well as the food you and your crews will be eating. If we are to make a profit, which will put money in the pockets of all of us at this table, we must make three million more each ten-week period. That is why I have been very lucky in getting us a lucrative contract for a major haul. You will have to be ready.”
“Don’t worry, lad, we’ll help you get your crew ready.” Mikael said with a nod of his head and the other captains nodded their agreement. Fortunately dessert came in and it was time to excuse himself.
“Very well, we’ll do it your way.” Garret sighed to Marjaan who looked pleased with herself. “If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with a masseuse, please enjoy your dessert, and any other pleasures the house here has to offer. It will be paid for by the company. Good evening.”
“Enjoy yourself, lad.” Liet said with a knowing smile as he left, and Garret made sure they could not see the frown on his face. Damion barely nodded at him as he met the older clone who knew him all too well, and showed Garret to the small office on the far side of the house. Of course, if all went well, he’d be getting his own back on Damion without the man knowing it until it was too late. When Marjaan left here, she wouldn’t be leaving alone.
“It’s about time.” Davlan Tremere’s voice sent a chill down his spine as the door to the office shut behind Garret. At least Damion was not privy to this discussion. Steeling himself, Garret turned to face the wall screen that showed the transmission of Davlan from the Tremere estates. The man had Deci standing behind him, an obvious reminder of the hold he had on Garret. “Now, tell me what that bitch who thinks of herself as your mother is up to.”
“She’s pissed at you, and looking for revenge for making me into a whore for you.” Garret took a small amount of pleasure at the words, and their effect on Davlan Tremere.
“Watch your tone, boy.” Davlan fumed. “They may treat you like a human, but I know you’re nothing but a clone. Now explain what you mean by that…”
Garret didn’t let the smile show on his face as he outlined the ‘plans’ his mother wanted him to share.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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